- Sen. Patrick Leahy home from brief hospitalization after presiding over opening of Trump’s impeachment trial (CNN) – Leahy’s hospitalization came soon after the impeachment trial began Tuesday afternoon with his swearing in.
- Rand Paul calls impeachment ‘dead on arrival’ after most Republicans signal that trial is unconstitutional (CNN) – 95% of the caucus voted that the whole proceeding was unconstitutional. “This is a big victory for us,” says Paul. “Democrats can beat this partisan horse as long as they want — this vote indicates it’s over, the trial is all over.”
- Forty-five Republicans vote against proceeding with Senate impeachment trial (Fox News) – Five GOP senators voted not to dismiss the impeachment trial of President Trump: Susan Collins, Maine, Lisa Murkowski, Alaska, Ben Sasse, Neb., and Pat Toomey, Pa., and Mitt Romney, Utah.
- Impeaching Trump gets more divisive by the minute: Goodwin (New York Post) – Tempers over the Jan.6 Capitol riot are cooling and reality is setting in about the pitfalls of a trial and the need to get on with governing during the twin public-health and economic crises.
- Returning to a bipartisan approach to end human trafficking (The Hill) – Knowledge inspires action. The time has never been more important for a bipartisan focus on this issue.
- Biden Team to Buy 200 Million More Doses, Speed Up Vaccinations (Bloomberg) – Delivering a minimum 10 million doses to states would represent about a 16% increase from the current weekly pace.
- Democrats stunned by briefing on Capitol’s security before insurrection: ‘It was only by pure dumb luck’ more weren’t killed (CNN) – Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-PA) said his theory of why there was not enough action to prepare was “that people were more worried about optics more than they were worried about security.”
- Why Biden Thinks McConnell Could Join His War on Malarkey (Slate) – Biden and McConnell have a decades long relationship, both as fellow senators and as deal-makers (and -breakers) during the Obama administration.
- Retirements shake up 2022 map as Republican senators eye exits (CNN) – Republicans will have to defend 20 of their Senate seats in 2022, while Democrats only have to defend 14 seats. The retirements give Dems greater hope of winning those seats and retaining their slim Senate majority.
- Federal Judge Blocks Biden’s 100-Day Deportation Moratorium (NPR) – Jorge Loweree, policy director at the American Immigration Council, said the 14-day moratorium would give the Biden administration time to look at each detainee’s case individually.
- In first call with Putin, Biden marks a return to skepticism from the top (Washington Post) – President Biden laid out a bill of complaint against Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, airing allegations of human rights abuses, cyberspying and more while making a hard pivot away from the deference that former president Donald Trump often displayed toward Russia.
